When it comes to cooking the Thanksgiving turkey, George Hendry thinks about safety first, then taste. Hendry, the culinary instructor at Monroe Career and Technical Institute, said cooks need to start now to prepare their feast.

MARTA GOUGER

When it comes to cooking the Thanksgiving turkey, George Hendry thinks about safety first, then taste. Hendry, the culinary instructor at Monroe Career and Technical Institute, said cooks need to start now to prepare their feast.

"The most important things are safety and sanitation," Hendry said. He advised thawing the turkey in the refrigerator for several days. "It's such a large product. A lot of people cut themselves short with time."

Another method of thawing is to run cold water on the turkey. "It's not the best way," Hendry cautioned. People actually have to run the cold water for a long time. Water must be cold to avoid the beginning of the cooking process. "Temperatures between 41 degrees and 135 is where bacteria grow best."

"You don't want to pull the family together and make them sick," Hendry said.

Once the turkey is safely thawed, it's on to preparation. Hendry said to forget about putting stuffing in the bird. Instead cook it in a separate baking dish. "No matter how you wash the cavity, bacteria could still be inside the turkey," he said.

If you're putting raw eggs into the stuffing, the temperature must reach 165 degrees. "To get the stuffing inside the turkey to 165, the turkey would be overcooked," Hendry said.

Some chefs suggest breaking the turkey into parts, laying it in a pan and cooking it. "You don't have the presentation, but you're not going to put the whole turkey on the table," Hendry said. Most people carve it in the kitchen and take the plates of meat to the table.

His method of cooking is set the turkey on a bed of carrots, onions and celery so that the turkey doesn't stick to the bottom. "The carrots, onions, and celery provide an excellent vegetable-turkey stock and naturally thicken the gravy," Hendry said.

This combination, half onions, 25 percent carrots and 25 percent celery, is a classic mire poix in French cooking. It's used for soup stock.

He said he generally doesn't season the turkey. "Salt and pepper on the skin doesn't go through to the meat," Hendry said. In fact, salt draws moisture out of the turkey.

Hendry adds plenty of water and covers loosely with a foil tent. The steam cooks the turkey and then drips into the pan for a gravy base.

He slow roasts the turkey at 300°F, and removes the foil for the last 30 to 45 minutes so that the skin browns. He'll rub the skin with butter and baste the bird once or twice during the last cooking time.

A small turkey (6 to 8 pounds) takes 2½ to 3 hours to cook. A large one (20 to 24 pounds) takes about 5½ to six hours. Others fall in between that range.

The turkey should always be tested with a cooking thermometer stuck in the thickest part of the meat. Hendry said the popup timers work pretty well because they pop when the meat hits a certain temperature.

Next comes the clean up. People can safely wait until after the meal to get the turkey into the refrigerator. But don't let the bird set at room temperature too long for safety reasons. Besides, Hendry said, "It's easier to pull the meat from the bone while it's still warm."

Ken Edwards will be spending his Thanksgiving at the Effort United Methodist Church, where he and his volunteer crew will be cooking for about 100 people. The church offers a meal for people who don't have family or can't afford to cook a meal themselves.

Volunteers transform the church hall into a restaurant, complete with tablecloths and placemats. They serve everything from hors d'oeuvres to dessert.

To serve 100 people, they need eight 16-pound turkeys. Edwards, a trained chef, has taught the other volunteers how to debone the turkey. The meat is then soaked overnight in a brine made with one cup of sugar, one cup of salt and two gallons of water. To that he adds oranges, peppercorns, bay leaves and other seasonings.

He puts the meat in 5-gallon plastic buckets but folks at home can use a dishpan to soak the turkey. The meat should marinate about 24 hours.

By cutting the turkey into parts, Edwards said, "It reduces the cooking time from all day to 1½ hours."

He covers the meat with foil and roasts at 350°F for about an hour. Then he removes the foil for the last hour so the meat can get brown.

The turkey remains moist. "This is not your grandma's turkey," he said.

"You can make stock for gravy by roasting the bones and throwing vegetables in," Edwards said. On the night before the feast, he makes 10 gallons of stock to be used for gravy and stuffing.

Side dishes complete the meal, starting with a traditional bread stuffing. Another tip: Edwards toasts the bread in the oven to enhance the flavor before adding it to the stuffing.

Dessert is of course fresh baked pumpkin pie.

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